Eastside Baby Corner needs help

Many nonprofit organizations that help those in need have seen a spike in demand and a drop in donations, and Issaquah-based Eastside Baby Corner is no different.

Staff at Eastside Baby Corner ask that community members consider recycling clothes and equipment that their children have grown out of, while at the same time helping kids in need. The organization accepts gently used clothing up to size 14, strollers, high chairs, cribs, toys, blankets and diapers. In particular demand are long pants for boys and girls sizes 3 to 8, socks and underwear for boys and girls in sizes 4 to 14, warm coats, gloves and mittens for boys and girls in sizes 3 to 14, blanket sleepers in sizes 3-6 and 6-9 months and powdered formula.

Donations may be dropped off between 7 and 8:30 p.m. on Mondays or between 9 and 11 a.m. on Thursdays at the distribution center, 1510 Maple St. N.W.

Eastside Baby Corner distributes goods to more than 160 shelters, food banks, public health nurses, school programs and other social service organizations. The items are then passed on to families struggling due to job loss, homelessness, domestic violence and other challenges.

Last year, the organization distributed more than $4 million worth of free goods, including 11,319 packages of diapers, 767 layettes for newborns and 2,821 cans of baby formula.

The organization also needs donations of cash — any amount is helpful, staff members say. Eastside Baby Corner uses donations to buy diapers, baby food, formula, cribs and car seats.

Volunteers are also needed to help sort and package clothing and other items.

For more information or to donate, visit www.babycorner.org or call 865-0234. Donations also may be mailed to P.O. Box 712, Issaquah, WA 98027.

Alcohol, drug class offered

Friends of Youth’s Youth and Family Services will offer a one-day Alcohol and Drug Information School course from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13 at the YFS office, 424 Front St. N.

The class focuses on the negative effects of drugs and alcohol, and is open to teenagers who live in King and Snohomish counties.

Tuition is $90, but a sliding fee scale is also available.

The course will be repeated once per quarter during 2009.

For more information, call 392-6367 or visit www.FriendsofYouth.org.

Overlake to offer flu shots for food

To help people protect themselves from Influenza this season and help stock the shelves at the local food bank, Overlake Medical Center Issaquah is offering area residents a free flu shot if they bring in three non-perishable food items to Overlake’s Urgent Care Clinic between 2 and 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20. The clinic is located at 6520 226th Pl. SE, Suite 150 in Issaquah.

No registration or appointment is required. Residents are asked to bring three non-perishable food items for one flu shot; five items for a family of two or more. For those who don’t provide food donations, flu shots will be available for $25.

“Getting a flu shot is an easy way to protect yourself and your family from illness this flu season,” said Dr. Eric Shipley, medical director of Overlake’s Urgent Care Clinic.

For information, call 425-688-5777.

Church collects for those in need

The “One Meal… One Hope” annual fundraiser is back in action and working toward providing Thanksgiving dinner to the Union Gospel Mission for the seventh year in a row.

The fundraiser was developed six years ago by Jim Rockstad when the Issaquah Christian Church handed $100 bills to its members and told them to “do something positive for those in need.”

Rockstad brought his seed money to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, which hosts programs for alcohol and drug abuse, dental and legal clinics and youth groups, as well as provides transitional housing and shelters for women and children, and gifted it for the holiday meals program.

“Thanksgiving dinner should never come from a dumpster,” he said, citing the program’s motto.

Rockstad raises funds through family and friend donations, flyers and mailers, and the popularity increases every year through word-of-mouth.

“It’s just amazing how big this has become, and how much people care and want to help,” he said.

In the past six years, “One meal… One Hope” has raised more than $30,000, which amounts to more than 16,000 meals, Rockstad said.

Donations can be mailed to the Issaquah Christian Church at P.O. Box 1028 Issaquah, WA 98027, or brought in person to 10328 Issaquah-Hobart Rd. S.E.

For more information on the “One Meal… One Hope” program, go to www.ugm.org.

Squak Valley Park South ready to play

A newly completed Squak Valley Park South is open to the public, and already drawing in patrons.

The park, located off Issaquah-Hobart Road, boasts of convenient parking, new bathrooms and a colorful children’s playground, complete with slides and monkey bars to climb on.

The park also has field space for two junior-sized soccer fields, though they won’t be ready until next spring, as they still need time to grow a strong turf, according to officials at the Parks and Recreation Department.

The park was also built with the environment in mind — pervious pavement allows rainwater to run through, a waste-holding tank replaces a septic system, native plants help filter material in a stormwater retention pond and Green Shield drainage systems will be installed on the soccer field.

Funding for the park was earmarked in the city’s 2008 budget, and the project cost approximately $1.2 million.

Unions file unfair labor charges against district

Two unions representing Issaquah School District employees have filed unfair labor practice charges against the district, citing claims that the district is not negotiating contracts in good faith.

A representative from Teamsters Union Local 763, representing custodial and grounds maintenance workers, filed charges with the state’s Public Employment Relations Commission Oct. 17, and a representative from the International Association of Machinists, representing bus mechanics, filed similar charges Oct. 28.

Much of the disagreement between the unions and the district centers on language disputes, cost of living adjustments and health benefits.

Commission investigators will review each charge filed and determine whether or not the district is bargaining in bad faith, according to officials.

If so, the district may have to attend extra bargaining sessions with the unions, and may be required to put through a cost of living increase, pro-rated since Sept. 1, according to officials.

Contract negotiations have been ongoing, and grew tense between the two groups since spring, officials said.